High-brow horror

Way back in 2007, two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank starred in “The Reaping,” a movie she called a “really smart [sci-fi thriller]” that “really makes you think” at the junket for the film, in which she played a former Christian missionary who confronts a town suffering from what appear to be the Biblical plagues. Bashed by critics and costing as much as $65 million to produce, the movie only made $62.8 million worldwide.

Gene Page

That same year, fellow Oscar winner Nicole Kidman took a shot at the supernatural in “The Invasion.” While Kidman dabbled in horror before with the well-regarded “The Others,” her unwelcome “Invasion” only grossed $40 million worldwide, half of its budget, before it swiftly vanished from the big screen.

Peter Sorel

Best-known for his impressive performances in movies like “Shattered Glass” and “An Education,” Peter Sarsgaard isn’t the kind of actor you’d expect to see in this past summer’s devilish-child thriller “Orphan.” But he claimed in interviews to promote the film that he signed on in part because he related to his character’s perspective on problems. He also said he was impressed with the acting ability of 12-year-old Isabelle Fuhrman, who plays the titular character. Audiences were less impressed. “Orphan” only grossed $12.9M its opening weekend.

Rafy

Sarsgaard’s “Orphan” co-star Vera Farmiga later earned an Oscar nomination for her role in “Up in the Air.” But the long-time horror fan was already somewhat of a critical darling before she signed onto “Orphan,” which she argued featured the same approach as many of her favorite films from the genre. “What works is that they’re about real problems, horrifying problems happening to real people,” she told The Arizona Republic. Perhaps the real critics who saw the film were too horrified: the film only received a 55% freshness rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

Rafy

Critically acclaimed actor Timothy Olyphant recently starred in “A Perfect Getaway,” which he described as a much more character-driven thriller than your typical scary movie. The film was mostly well reviewed, with critics praising Olyphant’s performance in particular. But few people saw it. The film only made $22.8 million worldwide, barely enough to break even, in its brief theatrical run (it was yanked from US theaters after 42 days).

Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Cameron Diaz has admitted that she’s not typically a fan of horror movies, so it was only the involvement of “Donnie Darko” director Richard Kelly that made her even willing to read the script to “The Box.” “It was more like a psychological thriller,” she told Australia’s Herald Sun. “It had so many layers and so many levels of consciousness.” Unfortunately, critics and audiences didn’t feel the same. The film only grossed $25 million, $5 million shy of its budget.

Dale Robinette

Awards-show darling Emily Blunt doesn’t watch horror films either, but she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that she thought the script to her monster movie “The Wolfman” seemed “more like a classic, suspenseful ghost story.” Critics didn’t offer the same sort of praise, characterizing the film as poorly constructed, “uneven” and “dull.”

Benicio del Toro might be particularly offended by such criticism since he proposed the remake that cost Universal $150 million to produce. The Oscar winner for “Traffic” likens his titular werewolf to Hamlet, making the film seem like a worthy choice for someone of his caliber. But after opening to $31.5 million, the much-maligned movie grossed just a little less than $140 million, with the majority of that coming from foreign ticket sales.

Universal Pictures

Starring well-regarded actor Timothy Olyphant and backed by socially-conscious production company Participant Media, “The Crazies” had all of the makings of a high-brow horror film, but clips suggested it might be more of a traditional scream-fest. Regardless, audiences were mad about the movie, helping it rack up $54 million worldwide, with $39 million of that coming from US ticket sales alone. It was also a hit with critics, scoring a 71% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Saeed Adyani

Perhaps the most elite example of a high-brow horror film, the Martin Scorsese-directed “Shutter Island,” scared up $41 million in US ticket sales — roughly half of the film’s budget — in its first weekend, giving Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio their best openings ever. But that was just the beginning: the $80 million film grossed $294 million worldwide during its theatrical run, more than any recent high-brow horror flick.

Andrew Cooper SMPS

Directed by “Cloverfield” helmer and longtime JJ Abrams collaborator Matt Reeves and starring well-regarded “Kick-Ass” star Chloe Moretz, “Let Me In” scored a 90% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The $20 million remake of the esteemed Swedish film “Let the Right One In” also raked in $24 million at the box office this fall.

Saeed Adyani/Overture Films

“Damages” star Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson, who starred opposite Kate Winslet in “Little Children” and Rachel McAdams in “Morning Glory,” paired up for the supernatural thriller “Insidious.” In the film, Byrne and Wilson play a young couple raising kids in a haunted house where spooky things start happening. With its elite cast and horror-expert pedigree, in the form of the writer and director of the “Saw” movies, it’s not surprising that the film posted a 62% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But, the movie was also a commercial hit, grossing nearly $92 million worldwide, more than enough to recoup its meager $1.5 million budget.

AP

The studio behind “Insidious,” FilmDistrict was hoping for another horror hit with “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” starring tabloid darling Katie Holmes. Alongside its high-profile lead, “Don’t Be Afraid” also features well-regarded “Memento” star Guy Pearce and was scripted and produced by the Oscar-winning Guillermo del Toro. The movie only had a 55% freshness rating on rottentomatoes.com, but The Post’s Kyle Smith calls it “fantastically creepy.” It grossed roughly $37 million worldwide on a $25 million budget, which might only be enough to break even.

AP

“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe played a grieving lawyer haunted by the death of his wife in the CBS Films horror flick “The Woman in Black.” Radcliffe earned rave reviews for his work onstage in “Equus” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway before starring in the film version of a story that was previously adapted into a long-running UK play.

AP/CBS FILMS

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon co-wrote and produced the meta horror film “The Cabin in the Woods,” in which a group of college students are having their emotions and actions manipulated by a couple of scientists. “Cloverfield” scribe Drew Goddard directed and helped write the thriller.

AP

“Red Lights” features a critically-acclaimed cast including Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy (best known for role as creepy Batman villain Scarecrow) and Elizabeth Olsen. Unfortunately, critics weren’t so thrilled with the psychological thriller, which only received a 33% freshness rating as of its July 13 release on rottentomatoes.com.–By HILARY LEWIS